Harry goes to Muggle school

Keeping Harry Potter out of the classroom is about as impossible as suppressing Fred and George Weasley, the mischievous twins brimming with high jinks in J.K. Rowling’s popular series.

So what do teachers do when students come back to school in September still immersed in the final book of the Potter series, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows”? And how have the books had an impact on education?

Susannah Richards, associate professor of education at Eastern Connecticut State University, urged her students — future teachers — to attend some of the midnight happenings that sprouted up around the release of the book so they will have something to talk about with the students this fall when they convene in the classroom.

“A bunch of them said, ‘I hadn’t considered that perspective — this could help me with my students next year,’ ” Richards said.

And while the books may not be used too often by teachers in a formal curriculum, being acquainted with the series can only be a plus, given its popularity and the book reports that focus on the magical world of Harry Potter.

However, Richards doesn’t recommend encouraging students to write about the books or to have teachers piggyback on the interest.

Instead, she advises educators to just let the children enjoy them, and keep their fascination with Harry Potter separate from classroom work.

“We have a tendency at times to overanalyze things, which kind of takes the fun out of things. If you’ve already found something and developed a passion for it, you don’t need it torn apart and dissected,” Richards said. “Wouldn’t it be a horrible thing to be a sixth-grader and read all the Harry Potter books and then be told you have to write about them when you didn’t want to?”

But it’s not surprising educators have seen the intrinsic value of Harry Potter carry into the classroom, instilling good reading skills, as Jean Wierzbinski, principal of Sayles Elementary School in Sprague, has observed.

“You’re getting into higher-level thinking, not just who, what, where and why,” Wierzbinki said. “There’s a higher level of analogies and pulling things together, which is great.”

The books, she said, tie into some of the strategies educators use in reading, such as making connections. So if students are reading a Harry Potter book independently, they can use it to make connections to an instructional book they are reading in class.

One feature of the Harry Potter books educators should appreciate is the highly visual aspect of Rowling’s environments.

Visualization, Wierzbinski said, is another hallmark of a good reader, and the ability to visualize also increases comprehension.

And teaching moments happen in the Potter books through the characters who attend Hogwarts. Children can identify with what some of the Hogwarts students go through — and absorb the lessons Rowling instills in the series.

Procrastination is a big one, with Ron and Harry often finding themselves at the mercy of their more academic friend, Hermione, to help them with their homework.

“I remember in one of the books, Hermione gives Harry a book that whenever he opens it, it gives him a friendly motto on getting his homework done,” said Robert Maynard Jr., an 11-year-old Potter fan from Colchester.

He recited the catchy phrase from memory: “Once you’ve dotted all your I’s and crossed your T’s, you can do whatever you please.”

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